Sage:

The cold air hit me in waves, rippling through my dark shoulder length hair. For a moment I just stood there and let the cool air soak into my skin, creating a tingling sensation that made me feel alive and focused.I cleared my mind and exiled all emotion aside into a dark corner and concentrated on what I came here for.

My machine gun was slung over my back securely and a razor sharp knife was held in between my teeth by the blade as I lowered myself over the edge of the building that had once been a storage warehouse. The metal was frigid to the touch as I lowered myself down the side of the roof, to just below a skylight that was just barely big enough to fit my slim frame.

I placed my feet in their tough leather lace up boots at strategic locations on metal beams under the skylight to keep my balance as I pulled the knife from my mouth to my hands, working quickly. I didn't have much time before the sun rose. And when it did, I wanted to be as far away from here as possible. I stuck the knife under the edges of the wooden frame of the skylight, digging into it forcefully. I could feel the old wood surrounding the skylight start to give away. Pulling the window out toward me slowly, as to not cause any unnecessary commotion, I balanced it carefully on two metal beams on the outside of the building before slipping the knife into a special flap on the inside of my right boot.

I lowered myself feet first into the opening I'd just created, fully conscious that I was at least eighty feet in the air. I gripped the edges of the opening as my feet searched for something to balance on.

It didn't take me long before my feet found a stable enough base to stand on. I let go of the opening and found my balance on the beams, satisfied I'd gotten in without making a sound and attracting any attention.

I began to make my way toward the lower beams, swinging from beam to beam without so much as a sound. Suddenly the sound of someone, or something, approaching made me press myself against the beams, trying to decrease the chance of being seen, despite being well above eye level.

The alien walked by, it's spider-like body clickety-clacking on the linoleum floor as it made its way to some unknown destination at the other side of the warehouse, completely oblivious to my presence. Hatred coursed through my veins, infecting my entire body as I watched it go by under me. I lost everything because of them. And now I'm going to make them pay. Pay for everything they took and destroyed with their arrival more than a year ago.

Once the Spider, the alien, was out of sight, I continued downward. I climbed down to the lowest possible beam. I lowered myself off of it, until nothing solid was under me for at least sixty feet or so. I hung there from the beam for a second, looking up at my hands gripping the metal before I let go and dropped down to the dusty floor.

I landed softly without a sound at a crouch. I straightened up. Maybe what they did to me has some benefits. Ever since the transformation, as I call it, happened, I found myself able to do things no human could possibly do. Things people have only dreamed of doing. But even though I could fall seventy feet and land unharmed, I would still take back what they did.

I allowed myself a small smile at my stellar landing as I continued on, removing my pistol from its holster at my waist. I held it up, close to my face as I moved onward.

I slunk through dank passageways that the Spiders had created. For a while I didn't come across another living thing. It was all too quiet. Then, past a giant stack of boxes, that were stacked in a way that resembled a wall, I came upon a group of harnessed kids sleeping peacefully, exactly where I knew they would be. One of the Spiders was on top of them, and I could tell from the rhythm of its breathing that it was asleep as well. It's green spindly legs were spread out over the kids whose harnesses glowed like the night lights my father used to put in my room when I was a child.

It was strange how they slept, but I'd seen it too many times now to be bothered to react anymore. I slowly made my way toward them, circling around the group, so I could get a good look at the kids, searching for a specific face. The only face that mattered.

A shock of bright brown hair caught my attention and my heart fluttered, but another step forward and all the hope and excitement that had ignited in my chest diminished as I saw that it wasn't him. Again. Another miss.

I walked over to the Spider, until I faced it, a mere three feet from its face. My footsteps were nonexistent. They wouldn't hear me until I wanted to be heard. I held my pistol out and aimed it straight at the Spiders' mouth, where I knew it would make the biggest impact.

The boom of the pistol filled the air, as the spider fell, making an awful gurgling sound as blood began to fill its mouth, spewing out as a deep red, almost black, as it lay dying. The harnessed kids had woken up as soon as the bullet pierced the Spider and looked dazed as they tried to help it. Before they could turn on me, I fled, no longer caring that they'd hear me now. All that mattered was getting out and getting on with the plan.

All was set. If Plan A didn't work out and I didn't find him here, then Plan B would be put into action. The bombs were in place, and all I had to do was set the trigger manually and then the place goes boom and Spiders straight to hell.

I felt a pang of guilt as I left the harnessed kids behind. I wanted to stay and help them somehow but a part of me knew that it wasn't logical. The harness was too powerful for them to overcome, and I didn't know how to free them, let alone have the equipment needed to get it off. The best I could do was place the bombs as far away from them as possible. Anyway, they'd be the first to be evacuated by the Spiders, now that they knew I was here.

I pulled my machine gun from its place strapped to my back and fired shots at the Spiders who appeared suddenly and gave chase. Sprinting through the dark corridors I evaded attacks from the Spiders until I reached a sidewall of the warehouse. Shooting at the dirty glass of the window in the middle, I jumped through, scratching my arm and drawing blood through the thin fabric of my long sleeved shirt on broken glass. I barely felt it.

Once I landed on the other side, I turned on the bomb placed right under the window I'd just burst through. There would be a six second delay. More than enough time for me to get away.

The bomb exploded as the first few Spiders burst through. Blood, wood, and burning flesh flew in all directions, but I wasn't there to see it. I had already turned the corner of the warehouse, kicking up clouds of dust as I raced toward the other side to flip on the second and final bomb.

The sun had risen by now, its heat warming my pale skin. When I turned the final corner I stopped cold. In the morning light, I found a group of three Spiders examining the bomb I had hid under a loose window frame. I cursed myself silently, for not hiding it better yesterday, when I scouted the area.

They looked up and saw me. They rushed toward me with amazing speed as more Spiders came in behind them. If the bomb had exploded as planned, I could have handled any remaining Spiders on my own, but now, now I'm not so sure. I turned on my heel to run back the direction I came from, but skidded to an abrupt stop once again. More spiders were approaching. A group of fifteen Spiders surrounded me. Damn.

Ben:

I woke up with a start. My spikes were glowing, illuminating the area around me an electric blue. An intense feeling of urgency filled me. I heard a distant explosion and jumped to my feet and grabbed my gun without hesitation. Exiting through the first floor window of an apartment building I had broken into the night before to rest, I followed the connection I was receiving through my spikes barely thinking about what I was doing.

I knew that I had to go and find who or what had filled me with this indescribable emotion. A connection to someone was filling my mind and body, penetrating my very core. It was like the connection I feel when I'm near a Skitter, only in a better and much more overpowering way. All I could tell was that this feeling wasn't from a Skitter. If it was from a Skitter, I would feel and hear something like static at first. All I felt now was a clear, intense signal for help. As I ran in the direction that the signal seemed to get stronger, I began hear the sounds of battle.

Even though my harness had been removed, I still could hear and see exceptionally well for a human. Again that unknown connection filled me and grew stronger. I began to grow frantic and edgy looking for its source. I turned a corner just in time to see a body fly through the air and smash into the bare wall of a building right in front of me.

I could sense that the Skitters were not friends. They were not Rebels. I aimed my gun and fired at them, getting closer with each shot as bodies fell or scattered away from me. When I came close enough, I grabbed my knife and began to stick them in the skitters body, shoving it into them hard with no mercy.

The Skitters sensed I was deharnessed and dangerous. If they wanted a fight, I won't stop. The cold hard glint in my eyes was evident. They made a quick decision and began to retreat with what few of them were left. I wanted to follow and finish them off, but the body that lay in a crumpled heap drew me closer.

The connection was growing stronger. There was no doubt now, that it was the girl who I felt connected to, not the Skitters. I kneeled down, to get a better look at her. She was dressed in dark clothing. Black jeans and boots with a thin, long sleeved navy colored shirt. A silver, heart-shaped locket hung delicately from her neck. A tear in the fabric on her right arm exposed a fresh long cut. Other than that she seemed unhurt.

Wisps of thick, dark, curly hair covered her face that was turned on its side, facing away from me. I gently touched her cheek, instantly feeling the connection strengthen and lock. Carefully I shifted her face to where I could see it. Brushing back hair as dark as the night sky to the side, I stared in awe at her face.

My hand rested lightly where it had brushed her hair to side. What was revealed was a very pale face adorned with a bloody cut down the left side, near the ear, with rosy pink lips. Her features were beautiful, with a dramatic contrast between hair and skin, even as she lay unconscious.

Suddenly she jerked awake, gasping as she grabbed a fistful of my shirt, her eyes opening for the briefest of seconds. I caught a glimpse of pale blue-grey eyes framed by thick eyelashes, before she fell limp in my arms again.

The connection went dead. Something tugged at the bottom of my heart as intrigue filled me. I knew I couldn't leave her here like this. I grabbed a gun lying a few feet from her head, assuming it was hers, from the looks of the pistol strapped to her small waist. Picking the girl up, I quickly made my way back to the building I'd been staying in.

I didn't want to be sitting out in the open with an injured girl when the Skitters come back and bring friends with them this time.